


So much more (than what you used to be)

by Nival_Vixen



Series: Short & sweet tumblr-weed [7]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: BAMF Stiles, Complete, Derek Hale Can't Have Nice Things, Derek isn't nice either, M/M, Nervous Derek, Spark Stiles, Stiles Stilinski can't have nice things, Stiles isn't nice, Tattooed Stiles, but that's okay, neither one knows if it's for the better, they've both changed
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-05-01
Updated: 2014-05-01
Packaged: 2018-01-21 12:36:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 982
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1550726
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nival_Vixen/pseuds/Nival_Vixen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Stiles and Derek have both changed, and while they both want each other, Stiles doesn't think he's what Derek needs. Derek thinks otherwise, and won't let Stiles believe an end for them before they've even begun.</p>
            </blockquote>





	So much more (than what you used to be)

Stiles is wearing a pair of headphones, heavy on his head, and he's got his eyes closed, tapping out the drums on the edge of his desk. He looks like a normal teenager, one who doesn't have a care in the world (well, not a supernatural care in the world, at least), and Derek's loathe to intrude on that peace. He's about to leave the room when Stiles opens his eyes, tilts his head back and gives him a broad grin. Derek can't help but glance down to the neck being bared to him, his heart skipping a beat.

"Hey, Der. What've you got for me there?" Stiles asks, tugging the headphones down around his neck.

Derek can hear the music coming from the speakers; it's some sort of heavy metal music, he thinks. Then he realises that Stiles is still waiting expectantly, his chair now turned towards the window where Derek's standing awkwardly. Right, he came here to give Stiles something. (He'll never be able to say that out loud without getting some sort of sexual innuendo from it, he knows he won't.)

"Came to give this to you," Derek mutters, holding the leather-bound book out to him.

"Ooh, a new book!" Stiles says, and Derek knows that the excitement in his voice isn't faked at all.

The book's snatched out of his hands a moment later, Stiles' carefree moment and the music already forgotten. Derek just watches as he flips through the book, a careful reverence to his touch that Derek wishes Stiles would direct towards him. Stiles pulls out a notepad and starts writing things down, and it isn't until Derek coughs softly that he seems to remember that Derek's even there.

"Sorry, did you need something else?" Stiles asks, blinking up at him in confusion.

"Did you... have you thought about it? What I asked you?" Derek asks, hating how small his voice sounds. He was an Alpha, for fuck's sake.

"Me and you dating?" Stiles asks, and there's no hint of a smile on his face, no stutter of his heartbeat, and that's all Derek needs to know his answer.

Still, he must truly be a masochist, because he nods in return and waits for Stiles to give him his answer out loud.

"I can't be what you want, Derek. You need someone who's going to treat you like you should be deserved, and I will never be able to do that. I'll never make you happy, and I couldn't live with myself if I was the reason that you were unhappy. I'm damaged, Derek, and you need someone whole to help you heal, not  _me_ ," Stiles adds, and what's even worse is that he believes it.

"You think I don't know that, Stiles? I'm just as broken as you, and - "

"No. You're right: you are broken. But me? I'm damaged, Derek, and that makes all the difference. Being broken means you can be fixed. Being damaged means that you can't ever be the way you were. You liked the old Stiles, the one who flailed about and who's only defense was wit and sarcasm. I'm not him, not anymore. I can't be him, I can't  _let_  myself be him again," Stiles adds.

He glances down to the runes that are tattooed on his hands, looking at his long sleeves as if he can see through the fabric to the rest of the tattoos that wind their way up his arms and across his body. With all of the magic inscriptions Stiles has now, Derek doesn't entirely doubt that.

"All right, Stiles, I admit it: I liked the old Stiles. Are you happy now? I liked him because he was reliable, dependable, and saved my life even when he was being an irritating little shit. But now? Now I  _love_  you, because you're so much more than that. You have the ability to be so much more than the old you, and I ... I just want to be with you because you're  _you_ , not because of what you  _were_. That's all; there's no lingering feelings about someone that you're not, I promise," he says, truth lacing every word because while Stiles doesn't have werewolf hearing, he does have the rune for  _truth_  tattooed on his eyelids and he can  _literally see_  if someone's lying.

Stiles takes a moment to think, and while he's nervous, Derek just waits. He knows that he's not going to leave - not this time - and he's going to make sure Stiles believes that too. Derek watches as Stiles takes off his headphones, stands, and ... turns to his bedroom door. His heart sinks to his stomach, but he can't bring himself to leave yet. When he can talk without his voice breaking, Derek's going to ask  _why_.

He doesn't get that chance because Stiles closes his bedroom door and moves over to him in a literal flash (the swirl of runes for  _speed_  lights up around his legs), and then Stiles is pressing his lips to Derek's and he can do nothing but respond in kind. His arms wind around Stiles' waist, Stiles' fingers threading through his hair, and it's so much more than Derek ever thought it could be. Stiles pulls away slowly, and Derek chases his mouth with his own lips, but Stiles puts a finger to Derek's lips and shakes his head.

"I'm giving you a chance here, Derek. I'm not the same person I was, and we both need to remember that you're not the same person you were either, all right?"

Derek considers Stiles' words before he replies, and slowly begins to realise that he's not the only one who's become so much more than he used to be.

"All right," he answers firmly.

Then, because he can, Derek pulls Stiles back in for another kiss, and even though he can get away from Derek easily, Stiles lets him.

...


End file.
